I had a foil pan catching the drippings to which I
> added about four cups of chichen broth and thickened with corn
> starch. It made a gravy with a tangy smokey flavor, very good. -RP


That's a good idea, saving the drippings......I have just started
experimenting with cooking without the water pan. I use lump, and have been
using sand in the pan. Did some Barbeque chicken on the top rack with no pan
this weekend.....the WSM got up to 385 pretty fast....outside temp was 56.
got it down to 325, did a great job cooking the chickens....I would think
that the drippings pan would be just enough of a deflector, without adding
any heat sink properties........
My grill maintained 325 temp for hours with one vent closed, and the
other two open about 20 percent. I'm just wondering if I can get the temp
down to 225-250 for low and slow during the summer months.